With Marmozets making angular alt-rock an attractive commodity on their near-flawless debut full-length The Weird And Wonderful Marmozets, it’s somewhat of a surprise that very few bands have attempted to capitalise on it. Saying that, Marmozets did it to such a staggering degree that few bands would dare to even try to best it. By that logic, Derry’s Making Monsters are braver than most bands, as not only have they drawn from Marmozets’ sound for their own, but they’ve done it quite well too.
New EP Bad Blood irons out a lot of the eccentricities and acuteness of its source material, but the callbacks to Marmozets come thick and fast. Emma Gallagher has the same ridiculous amount of vocal personality and charisma as Becca MacIntyre, especially on the effortlessness of the title track, and Noodle Sync takes cues from Bingley’s finest in its meshing of clean and screamed vocals without feeling overpowering. Making Monsters haven’t quite pulled it off as well – there are a couple of clunky verse to chorus transitions on Rose for example – but there’s no shame in that whatsoever. Emulating a band like Marmozets is no mean feat, and at the very least, Making Monsters have given it a damn good go.
Still, Bad Blood does contain hints of other sounds that help the band construct a fuller, sturdier sound for themselves. The Deftones-esque swell and almost ethereal quality to Better shows some definite expanding of the pool of influences, but Call Me Out is its own beast entirely, with a heaving atmosphere constructed in its crunching guitars and enigmatic vocals before building up into a truly epic crescendo.
It’s a sign that, with a bit of time to stretch their legs, Making Monsters could be something truly special. Bad Blood shows that they already have some fantastic songs under their belt, and tying up a few loose ends would only benefit them even more. If ever the time comes that we need to find a successor to Marmozets’ throne, Making Monsters are the prime candidates.
7/10
For fans of: Marmozets, Fightstar, Deftones
Words by Luke Nuttall
‘Bad Blood’ by Making Monsters is released on 13th May.
Has this reviewer ever listened to anyone other than Marmozets?! Bar the fact that both bands have female singers and begin with the letter M there is no similarities at all. Emma’s voice destroys yer one from “Bingley’s finest”, both in the quieter moments and with her foundation rattling scream. In fact Marmozets singer has a pretty non-descript voice that could be any number bland Kerrap! flavour of the month no hit wonders. And they can’t even begin to touch MM’s rhythm section or guitar work. I’m trying not to be uncivil but dear gods this is one of the laziest pieces of journalism I have ever read. Just hang around the tour bus like all the other groupies if you wanna meet Marmozets that badly. And Marmozets throne?! Aye lad, saunter on hi! This review (unlike the EP) is a large dollop of toss on toast. With quite a lot of toss. And not a lot of toast!